Dietary patient aide vs care associate

The differences between dietary patient aides and care associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a care associate has an average salary of $32,558, which is higher than the $27,112 average annual salary of a dietary patient aide.

The top three skills for a dietary patient aide include patients, patient safety and vital signs. The most important skills for a care associate are patients, vital signs, and PCA.

Dietary patient aide vs care associate overview

	Dietary Patient Aide	Care Associate
Yearly salary	$27,112	$32,558
Hourly rate	$13.03	$15.65
Growth rate	12%	9%
Number of jobs	103,465	192,391
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age	41	42
Years of experience	-	3

Dietary patient aide vs care associate salary

Dietary patient aides and care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Dietary Patient Aide	Care Associate
Average salary	$27,112	$32,558
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $34,000	Between $21,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	Bangor, ME	Hollister, CA
Highest paying state	Maine	Hawaii
Best paying company	Tufts Medical Center	Analysis Group
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Health Care

Differences between dietary patient aide and care associate education

There are a few differences between a dietary patient aide and a care associate in terms of educational background:

	Dietary Patient Aide	Care Associate
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Dietary patient aide vs care associate demographics

Here are the differences between dietary patient aides' and care associates' demographics:

	Dietary Patient Aide	Care Associate
Average age	41	42
Gender ratio	Male, 24.7% Female, 75.3%	Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 27.3% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 4.6% White, 48.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	8%	7%

Differences between dietary patient aide and care associate duties and responsibilities

Dietary patient aide example responsibilities.

Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
Provide in house rehabilitation to the disable.
Demonstrate compassion and professionalism while delivering dialysis treatment to high-risk populations.
Explain dialysis procedure and operation of hemodialysis machine to patient and calculate the proper amount for fluid removal during dialysis procedure.
Present peer to peer health education and provide administrative support to student health center including filing medical records using HIPPA compliant procedures

Care associate example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Provide direct care to patients in intensive care unit with empathy, compassion and enthusiasm.
Utilize strong interpersonal skills to educate patients on procedures, rehabilitation and contraception methods.
Care for patients requiring telemetry monitoring and work collaboratively with telemetry technician/nurses to detect and report abnormalities to physicians.
Coordinate with clinicians to meet the specific needs of patients and perform clinical care in an ICU.
Assign to new ER and ICU departments by leadership to maintain quality of patient care and increase patient satisfaction.

Dietary patient aide vs care associate skills

Common dietary patient aide skills

Patients, 55%
Patient Safety, 6%
Vital Signs, 5%
Direct Patient Care, 5%
CPR, 5%
Rehabilitation, 4%

Common care associate skills

Patients, 24%
Vital Signs, 11%
PCA, 7%
Phlebotomy, 7%
CPR, 7%
Customer Service, 5%

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Healthcare Support Industry
Dietary Patient Aide
Dietary Patient Aide vs Care Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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